The Dublin Picture Quiz- the answers page !

These are the answers and results of the September/October 2013 Dublin Picture Quiz Competition… The answers are just below, underneath each picture. Obviously the competition was over and the winners were announced a long time ago. So don’t send in your answers. But we have left the quiz up online, in case people find it fun. This is quite a tough quiz but we hope you enjoy. If you love learning about history, buildings and architectural stories and details, we recommend joining the Dublin Decoded mailing list here. We run history and architecture walks, from 1-3 of them every month and we think they are the best in Dublin. In the meanwhile, here’s the answers to the quiz!

for Picture 1: we asked you What, and where roughly, is this place below?

Many of you correctly identified it as the old Boland’s Mill, a huge mill building facing directly onto Dublin’s Grand Canal Dock, and also lining the side of Pearse Street, just over on the Ringsend side of the Pearse St bridge. TheBoland’s Mill is one of the largest buildings in Dublin, and this funny, slightly jerry-built shack sits on top of the colossus.

for Picture 2: we asked you What, and where roughly, is this place below?

A: Many readers found this one trickier. But a Mr WTC Mays, reputed to be a well-known south-side businessman and horticulture magnate, nailed it perfectly. It is of course the pump house for the ornamental lake in Blackrock Park, cunningly decked out as a cute roman temple.

for Picture 3: we asked you What, and where, was this place below?

This regal looking lion sits astride the main door of Newman’s House, on St Stephens Green West, and possibly the finest building on that beautiful square. Newman House, is in fact two aristocratic townhouses joined together, each festooned with top class Georgian-era plasterwork. The first house was by the renowned German born architect Richard Cassel completed c 1738, with a second building added alongside in 1765. About a hundred years later the two together became the home of the new Catholic University. The first rector of the new institution was the great writer and theologian John Henry Newman, one of the founders of the influential Oxford Movement. Apart from his offices here, the poet Gerald Manley Hopkins also had a bedroom here.

for Picture 4: we asked you What, and where, was this place below?

Most people got this one. These are the office buildings, known as Plaza One on Burlington Plaza, or Burlington Road, (either answer was fine) I thought they were the property of the well known developers Treasury Holdings, one of many high profile firms who borrowed vast amounts of money from our rather spendthrift Irish banks, then it spent big and built high, during our recent, notorious boomtime. But in fact, the joint developers of this “plaza” scheme were Coolbrook Ltd and Allied Irish Property Fund. (Many thanks to the eagle-eyed Jaybee for the correction on that one) Admittedly, these offices, on a high profile, fairly prestigious site, appear better designed than much of the output of those crazy spendthrift times. I pass them almost every day and always enjoy walking by.

for Picture 5: we asked you What, and where was this place below?

A: Okay, this picture is not exactly of a place, so to speak. But it is of course part of the collection from the Irish National Print Museum, a lovely collection of old Printing machines, type faces and equipment, thankfully saved and lovingly kept in working order by the committed staff of that museum, which stands on the grounds of the Old Beggars Bush Baracks off Haddington Road in Dubblin 4. Well done to the readers who got this one right.

for Picture 6: we asked you What, and where was this place below?

A6: This of course is a view of the street intersection of South William Street with Coppinger Row, one of the epicentres of Dublin’s famed nightlife. This corner is just minutes away from Grafton Street and positives heaves at weekends, and it’s also home to one of my 3 or 4 favourite Dublin pubs. That canopy is projecting from the Powerscourt Town Hose, previously another 18th C aristocratic dwelling, now an upmarket shopping venue. This pictures was taken from the second floor of City Assembly Rooms, perviously the first purpose-built space for Art exhibitions anywhere in Britain or Ireland, then later a courthouse during the 19th century, and later again, just recently, the new home of the wonderful Irish Georgian Society.

for Picture 7: we asked you What, and where was this place below?

A7: The iconography gives this away as the Free Masons Hall, on Molesworth St., in Dublin 2, between Dawson St and Kildare Street. Many a funny handshake has been given in this building! There are some fantastic, surreal interiors within. You’ll find the Masons surprisingly open and friendly. I highly recommend a tour.

Picture 8: What, and where, is this? (below)

A8: This is one of the lovely mosaic pillars from that much-maligned Modernist classic, Busarus, on Berseford Place in Dublin 1, famously designed by a team (and it was very much a collaboration) headed by Michael Scott.

Picture 9: What, and where, is this? (below)

A9: This is the lovely old Sweny’s Chemist, legendary as one of the stopping-off points for Leopold Bloom in his wanderings during James Joyce’s Ulysses. Of all the hundreds of places named in the novel, this is one of the most intact and best preserved, remaining almost untouched since the time the novel was set in 1904. In this scene of the novel, Leopold Bloom takes great pleasure in the waxy, citrus smell from a cake of lemon soap. Although the shop stopped trading as a chemist a few years ago, it is now run by a wonderful group of literary and Joycean enthusiasts, who maintain the interior and host almost daily readings here of Joyce’s work. You can even buy a piece of that famous lemon soap, the perfect Dublin souvenir from the more discerning visitor. Forget the plastic Guinness keyring; this is what you want to give your mum.

Picture 10: What, and where, is this? (below)

A10: This is the half-Moon Bathing Club. On Dublin Great South Bull Wall.

Picture 11- What and where, is this? (below) I put this one sideways, just, just because.

It’s Corrigan’s Pub, in Ranelagh, Dublin 6, near or just behind the well known Month Pleasant Cresecent.

Picture 12- What and where, was this? (below)

A12: It’s the wonderful 3-faced, (especially duplicitous) head from the National Museum on Kildare Street, Dublin 2.

Picture 13- What and where, was this image below?

This was tough, and a lot of people guessed, not unreasonably “in Dalkey?” In fact this fantastic Art-deco house is to be found facing the sea in beautiful Sutton, looking out southwards across Dublin Bay.

A14: This was the Asgard, the ship that Erskine Childers used to bring German guns into Ireland, on the eve of the famed 1916 Easter Rising.

And finally…. (drum roll please…) This was Picture, question- 15- What and where, was this? (below)

Okay, I cheated, because this answer was the same as the first answer. It’s Boland’s mill again, on the Grand Canal Dock. The reason for the duplication is because I’m semi-obsessed with this building. I hope to blog about it soon.

that’s the lot. Competition email line is now closed. But please share the quiz if you can, Most social media buttons are just below at foot of page.

11 thoughts on “The Dublin Picture Quiz- the answers page !”

Ah yes, thank you Iieana. But, judging by your lovely pictures of city details, surely You are the perfect person to make the Bucharest picture quiz, no? Who better?
I won’t be able to post any answers, as i only know the city thru your nice blog, but even I know that you would do a fantastic job. Go on! I look forward to seeing it. 🙂

A hopeless fail – I nailed 1 & 15 though and ought to have got the Blackrock one. My excuse is I’m a foreigner! Yes I hope you do a Boland’s Mill piece Arran. I often walked by it knowing it’s place in 1916 history and wondering what might eventually become of it.

Hi Roy, thanks for having a lash at the quiz, to be honest a lot of people found it tough (and were not shy to tell me so!) Glad you liked it though. I agree with you about the Bolands Mill too, it’s an extraordinary place, like yourself, I’m always fascinated by it. Finally have resolved to do some proper research, so hope to post on it in the next couple of weeks. Thanks very much for commenting, always great to hear from you. -Arran.

Hahaha… I could have guessed you cheated the last :p
People taking part in this contest must need to know Dublin very well. Your buildings spread out far. Looking forward to your Boland’s Mill blog to find out why you’re obsessed with it. 😀

Great Scott, I think you are right Jaybee. I was absolutely convinced this was a Treasury Holdings development, (as I said above) as you know Mr J Ronnin had is own home on the other part of Burlington road, and had other properties on Mespil Rd just around the corner. But now I check, you are quite right, the joint developers of this “plaza” scheme were Coolbrook Ltd and Allied Irish Property Fund. Good spot. 🙂 DElighted you enjoyed the quiz, please come visit us again and always great to get comments. I might even try and do another quiz before christmas. best regards- A.

Hi Arran – thanks so much for unveiling what were way too many mysteries that prevented me from entering the quiz! Thoroughly enjoyed the process tho – well done! You should organise a guided tour starting and ending at the Mill and taking in 2-14 in between!

hey school pal, hi Rachel, very nice to hear from you. Delighted you enjoyed the quiz, thanks ver much for taking the time to say so. I know it was tough, – loads of readers, and even dozens of friends came to visit, tok one look and then beat a hasty retreat! Entirely my fault, I’ll try and pitch the next one a bit easier. And yes, you are dead right, I should work some of these sights into a tour, in fact that’s already the plan. I come you’ll come a join one of them tours some time, We’ll be starting soon after the New Year, and might even do one or two before Christmas.

If you want to stay on to date on those, please go to my other site, Dublin Decoded, then click on any of the individual posts, to look for the subscribe button top-right, that will keep you posted of any upcoming tours as they are announced. It may not work on a smart phone, but if you do it on a regular computer the subscribe button definitely appears on each individual post, (just not the home page) Hope to see you on tour some time.
Thanks again for commenting, hope all is well with you and yours.
. -Arran.